Play the lottery? Always check the numbers yourself - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jlomon · #1 12-20-2007, 07:10 AM

If you play the lottery, always check the numbers yourself.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/287330

Lotto winners discover $5.7M scam

Betsy Powell
Dale Brazao
staff reporters

When three lottery players discovered last year that someone had cashed their $5.75 million winning ticket, they hired a private detective to find out if the fourth member of their ticket-buying group had pocketed their millions behind their backs.

For years, Lorraine Teicht, Paul Carlisi, and sisters-in-law Silvana and Aurora Pincivero, four friends who all worked for the Toronto Catholic District School Board, had pooled their money to buy lottery tickets using the same numbers.

But at a party in February 2006, the Pinciveros and Carlisi made a shocking discovery when they punched their regular numbers into an Ontario Lottery Corp. website and saw them in the winner's column for 2004. The payout would have been $5.75 million.

They contacted the lottery corporation, which cited privacy laws in refusing to disclose the identity of any winner that far back. "They told them to get lost," says a source familiar with what happened.

The trio grew suspicious and hired a private detective to see if their friend Teicht's lifestyle had dramatically changed. But there was no evidence of a spending binge or hidden bank accounts.

At the same time, a friend had done his own detective work, learning that the winning ticket had been sold at the Orchard Gate Esso station and convenience store in Orillia on June 23, 2004.

That's when the three lottery partners confronted Teicht, who owns property in Lagoon City, near Orillia. They told her they thought she had stolen their lottery winnings and demanded answers. In tears, she admitted she had bought the 6/49 ticket there using the group's usual numbers, but denied stealing the money.

Then she remembered something.

After returning home to Toronto, Teicht had taken the ticket to a tiny retail outlet in the Dupont and Dufferin Sts. area. The barely metre-wide shop sold only three things – pop, cigarettes and lottery tickets.

A lottery terminal is supposed to emit a jingle when a winning ticket is inserted – and it makes much more noise for a jackpot win like $5.75 million. This time it didn't, and the clerk told Teicht the ticket was worthless, says a source familiar with what transpired. At the time, she had told her lotto buddies they had won nothing.

Seven months later, in January 2005, Hafiz Malik showed up at the lottery headquarters with the winning ticket. Aware that he operated a shop with a lottery terminal, officials investigated before Malik was handed a cheque for $5.75 million.

But that was before Ombudsman Andre Marin's scathing report this year on the winning habits of some lottery ticket sellers.

The lottery partners then began a search of library archives and filed freedom of information requests in an attempt to find out who had collected the $5.75 million, but came up empty.

They began to look at the tiny convenience store.

They learned that after collecting his winnings, Malik had closed his store and purchased a $1 million mansion in Mississauga. He had also bought several luxury cars and apparently gave his son $1 million to buy a Tim Hortons franchise.

Earlier this year, when they approached the lottery corporation armed with fresh information, the Ontario Provincial Police were called.

Greg Harris, lawyer for the group, said his clients weren't optimistic when they went to the lottery corporation with their case.

"The Ontario Lottery Corporation is a very, very different organization now than it was previously," Harris said.

"When we approached the OLG, honestly, we did fear the worst. But right from the very beginning they said `We're going to take this very seriously.' And they did."

Eventually, Malik was arrested and charged with two counts of fraud, one of theft and one of possession of stolen property. Police also moved under proceeds of crime legislation to seize $5 million worth of property, including the Mississauga house and several cars.

Yesterday, Malik, 60, appeared in court and was freed on $60,000 bail.

Then, in the afternoon, the lottery corporation cut a cheque and presented it to the four original winners.

"I was shocked but was very excited at the same time," said Aurora Pincivero. "Maybe now I can finally take my kids to Disney World. This is a dream come true – really."

As for Lorraine Teicht, she said she and her lottery partners would be celebrating in the new year.

"I'm very elated, very happy," she said. "It was a long journey but we're very happy with the end of our journey."

And the cheque they received yesterday was for a lot more than $5.75 million. The lottery corporation added $788,000 in interest.

catmandoo62 · #2 12-20-2007, 09:03 AM

years ago here in iowa there was a lady that worked in a convenience store. on scratch tickets there is a barcode that they scan that tell what a ticket is worth if it's a winner.if they are a winner they can only be scanned once,and if you scan more then 12 tickets in a row the terminal would shut down and you have to contact lottery hq to get back on line.well as she worked during slow time she would scan the tickets.if they won,the machine would spit out a reciept of what it was worth,she would take that then she would give the ticket to her boyfriend and he would come in the next day when she was working and cash it in,and she wouldn't scan it she would just pay him,then slip the reciept in the money bag.if it was a loser she would sell it,and the customer didn't know no better.she did this for over 3 yrs.they figure she got over 50,000.when she finally got caught she got like 6 months and had to pay restitution.:moral of the story always check your tickets yourself.and if you play lotto,mark your tickets,and if they scan the ticket and say it's no good ask for it back.

G-Benz · #3 12-20-2007, 03:50 PM

WOW! I had a hard time reading your post with all of the words crowded like that!

eagle-co94 · #4 12-20-2007, 04:33 PM

Wow...talk about a happy ending! Today's amusing addition: We had our office gift exchange...I got a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 and $20 worth of lottery tickets. 9 of the 20 tickets were winners! I won $13 total and 3 free tickets! I'll give the 3 winners to the wife to pick new ones and then maybe we'll celebrate on the MD 20/20.